Whispered Promises
by karolinaizabela
Summary: It all begins on an average fall afternoon. Emma's new to the neighbourhood; more particularly: Regina's building. They're polar opposites, but what happens when their worlds suddenly collide? Emma pursues Regina as a personal challenge, but what both discover at the end of the journey, is something neither could have expected. [[OQ eventual SQ]]
1. Chapter One

**AN: This is my first SQ fanfic, so please don't be too harsh. Comments & constructive criticism are very welcome. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I am. Special thanks to Dillyn for helping out with an idea & to Ingrid, Sara and Diana for believing in my writing, always. X**

Chapter One

Regina Mills, from a distance, seemed pretty ordinary; some would even dare to say, "boring". She was a college professor, she had a sixteen-year-old son, she lived in a New York City penthouse and she liked things in her life to be, for a lack of a better word, organised.

She had few friends, but they were loyal and that's all she needed. Trust didn't come easy to her and her walls were constantly miles high. The only person, who had perpetual access to Regina's heart, was her son Henry. Their relationship was like most, it had its ups and downs, but there was nothing either wouldn't do for the other. They were all they had.

Little did the Mills family know, that what seemed like an extremely average fall afternoon, was going to be the day their lives would start to change. Not immediately, not in a way either of them could imagine, but slowly, unsurely, their lives would change for the better.

* * *

Routine wasn't a foreign concept in the Mills household. Every morning, Regina would wake up at six o'clock for half an hour of morning yoga, followed with a cup of scolding, black coffee and making breakfast for the most important man in her life.

Tuesdays were pancake days, and this morning proved to be no different. At around seven, Regina always began hearing Henry's clumsy movements in his bedroom as he started getting ready for school, and a few minutes after that, his still sleepy footsteps would make their way to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Good morning, my love." Regina greeted her son with a kiss to the temple and set a plate of pancakes in front of him, accompanied by a small jar of maple syrup and a mug of hot cocoa.

Henry mumbled something resembling a greeting, before practically burying his face in his breakfast.

Regina watched him for a few moments, a soft smile prancing around on her plump lips as she took a final sip of her coffee and set the mug into the dishwasher. There wasn't a thing on this Earth she could ever love as much as that boy.

"Is all your homework done?" Regina questioned and gave Henry a stern look as he gathered his plate and followed suit, also stuffing it in the dishwasher. "I know I heard shooting noises coming from your bedroom last night, when I should have been hearing blissful silence resulting from you being glued to the pages of your textbooks."

Grinning at his mother, the boy rolled his eyes playfully and gave her a hug. "Have a good day at work, mom. I'll see you later." was all he said in response. Regina was now left stranded in the middle of her kitchen floor, with a confused look plastered on her face as she watched her son grab his coat and backpack and head out the door.

"Have a good day at school?" she mumbled in response, after Henry had already walked out the door. She never did understand teenage behaviour. Shaking off her confusion, Regina walked to her office and packed everything she needed for the day; piles of half marked essays, lecture plans and tonnes of other paperwork that only seemed to be growing bigger each day.

Checking her reflection in their full-length corridor mirror, Regina smirked to herself. She managed to pull off the sophisticated look pretty well. A grey, tight fitting skirt suit hugged her body in all the right places and the black shirt poking from underneath added an extra bit of simplistic class.

Pursing her lips and ruffling her hair, Regina was satisfied with her look. Her black satchel now weighing on her shoulder, she left her apartment just as any other morning.

Regina lived on the top floor of an apartment building, which contained two living extensions on each level. Her previous neighbours moved out a couple of months ago, so since then her and Henry practically had the top floor to themselves, without distractions and unnecessary human interaction.

The elevator sounded on her floor before she even had a chance to press the call button for it, and Regina momentarily frowned in confusion. The doors opened and much to her surprise, someone occupied it. She wasn't expecting guests.

Inside stood a woman, a few suitcases by her side and she seemed slightly out of breath. Regina's frown deepened.

"Can I help you?" she asked, her tone indicating she didn't have time for this type of nonsense.

The blonde woman inside the elevator nodded frantically, oblivious to Regina's tone, as she shoved one of her three suitcases in her direction.

"God, yes. Can you believe no one before you offered?!" she exclaimed, seemingly flabbergasted.

"No, that's not-" Regina began, but before she knew it the suitcase was in her hands and the blonde was making her way out of the metal box and into the hallway. "Who are you?"

"Your new neighbour, lady!" the blonde grinned, dropping her suitcases once again and pushing her hand inside Regina's palm. "Emma Swan."

Mostly out of habit, Regina shook Emma's hand and nodded in greeting. "Regina Mills." She paused for a moment. "I haven't been notified we would be having neighbours again, Miss Swan. When did you come into possession of the apartment?" Regina asked, taking back her hand and gently wiping it against the material on her hips.

Trying not to look offended, Emma shrugged and once again started dragging her suitcases towards the door to her new apartment. "Just last night, it was sort of a quick decision."

"Very well." Regina replied, not all too pleased. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Miss Swan. I've work to get to." Without waiting for a reply, Regina nudged the elevator button a couple of times, despite knowing the gesture won't make it come any faster.

For a few moments, Emma simply watched Regina, trying to figure her out. She didn't even know her and already she was acting as if Emma was the biggest scum on the planet. What, with all the fake kindness and politeness. Who even talks like that? Lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realise that Regina had already gone. Stranded in the middle of the hallway with three suitcases by her side, Emma shook her head and rolled her eyes. That was going to be a problem for another day.

Fishing inside the pocket of her skinny jeans, Emma pulled out the key to her new apartment, smiling to herself.

Now, looking at Emma, many would wonder how she could possibly afford a place like this. Penthouses in buildings like these belonged to people like, well, Regina. Not someone, who like Emma, could fit their whole life into three suitcases; technically, not even. One of them was filled with a very thick and space consuming baby blanket, as well as a jacket which most definitely did not belong to her, but that's a story for later.

Settling into her new apartment only took a couple of hours, considering she didn't have much organising to do.

Her clothes fit semi-neatly into her wardrobe and any other personal belongings she might have had have been scattered around the apartment under the excuse of making it "homey".

With unpacking out of the way, Emma decided to do just a little grocery shopping so she'd be settled for a few days. Throwing her signature red leather jacket over her shoulders, she grabbed her keys and wallet and out of the door she went.

Emma loved this time of the year, and it's been a while since she'd seen it. You don't get to experience the effects of time and the change of weather from inside a prison cell, after all. She'd been stuck in one for a little over two years until recently, when she managed to get out early on good behaviour; but that was behind her now. Something she wanted to forget.

She doubted anyone in her new building would love to hear her prison stories. Regina would probably hate knowing she has an ex convict as a neighbour. The thought brought a smirk to Emma's lips.

Emma never took care of herself particularly well, so it was no surprise when all she found appealing at the grocery store were some ready made meals and some packs of Doritos, accompanied by a few bottles of something fizzy. Having forgotten a basket when she entered the store, she had everything balanced neatly against her chest.

With everything stacked in her arms, Emma's vision of what was ahead of her wasn't a luxury she could afford anymore. A few careful steps forward got her closer to the check out counter, but not fast enough. Before she knew it, everything she had picked out was splattered in front of her on the ground, and a loud groan escaped her lips.

"Would you fucking watch where you're go-" Emma looked up, trailing off mid sentence, suddenly breaking out a grin. "Lily!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her friend's neck.

The two women stood in the cereal isle for a few seconds in a tight embrace, before moving apart, but not breaking physical contact, holding on to each others hands.

"How have you been? When did you get out?" The questions seemed to spill out of the girls at the same time, causing them to chuckle.

"Look, how about I finish shopping and then we can go back to my place and get some coffee and catch up?" Emma offered, smiling at her friend.

Lily nodded, bending down to help Emma pick her groceries from the floor. "Where do you live?"

Balancing everything in her arms again, Emma, this time with Lily's guidance, made her way to the tills. "Oh, I just got an apartment around ten minutes from here." She answered, throwing the cashier a polite smile as he scanned through her items. Bagging everything, she paid and motioned for Lily to follow her.

"I've got the best idea." Lily grinned, following Emma. "We're gonna throw you a house warming party!"

Emma seemed to ponder on the idea for a while, before turning to her friend and slowly nodding, as if still thinking about the idea. "That could work. There's a bunch of people I'd love to catch up with. Just need to get a hold of everyone's numbers again."

"Let me worry about that. Just give me your address and I'll have everything ready for the evening, okay? Here…" Lily reached into Emma's pocket and pulled out her phone, adding in her own number. "There's my number. Message me your address and I'll see you later." She smiled, kissing Emma's cheek, and, without waiting for a response, walked off leaving Emma alone once again.

"Well this should be interesting." She mumbled to herself.

* * *

Regina's day passed slower than usual. Her lectures dragged and even her lunch break seemed to take hours as she marked some left over papers. Most of the time she felt like writing a big, fat "you're a moron" on the back of the papers; it was difficult to constantly remain professional.

Throughout the rest of the day, Regina felt as if her new neighbour had shifted the whole balance of her day. She didn't like surprises, they threatened her, and this was definitely a big one. Her and Henry had grown accustomed to having the floor to themselves, and it'll be "interesting" sharing it.

Just as she was about to leave the university to finally make her way home, a hand gently pulling on the sleeve of her blazer, stopped her. Holding back an eye roll and an annoyed sigh, Regina closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose before turning around.

She wasn't surprised when she saw a doe eyed co-worker, hopeful once again, to make conversation with her.

"Miss Blanchard, what can I do you for?"

"Well, I just wanted to see if you had any plans this evening, Regina." She stated matter of factly, the grin on her face almost painful in Regina's eyes. "There is a food and wine tasting for the faculty later on this evening, as I'm sure you're aware, and I was wondering if you were thinking about making an appearance."

God damn it, Regina had completely forgotten about the faculty meeting. "I'm afraid that's out of the question, Miss Blanchard. I've already made a promise to my son that we'd cook together this evening." She answered simply, turning around to leave.

Another tug on her jacket.

Regina's hands made quick fists, as she took a deep breath, slowly turning around once more. "Yes?"

As if for once sensing Regina's uncooperative mood, Miss Blanchard opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish without water, before deciding to drop the matter, dismissing it with the wave of a hand.

"Nothing. I'll see you tomorrow, Regina." She smiled, giving Regina's arm a gentle squeeze, before walking away.

Why Mary Margaret continuously tried making friends with Regina as if they were a pair of high school girls, was something she would never understand.

Finally free from the day's responsibilities, Regina made her way to her car and sped off down the road. A swift flick of her wrist turned on the radio, letting music blast through the speakers. Nodding her head rhythmically and occasionally singing along to the lyrics made the drive home just that much faster.

Before she knew it, Regina made it home. However, even on her way up in the elevator, she could tell something was…wrong. As soon as the elevator doors opened on her floor, Regina's jaw nearly hit the floor. The hallway was filled with people smoking, drinking and otherwise acting like animals.

"What the fu-" she trailed off, seeing Henry standing outside of their apartment door, talking to some woman. "For the love of god, Henry, get inside." She yelled over the loud music originating from the apartment next door. Pushing a slightly reluctant Henry back into their home.

Someone was going to pay for this.

Back inside her own apartment, Emma was slightly uncomfortable. She was never good with _too_ many people, and this might just have been her limit. Lily did a great job at throwing something like this together at such short notice, really, but it was just too much for Emma.

After a while she lost track of Lily and most people she knew; her apartment was filled mostly with strangers who she had no intentions of knowing on a deeper level.

Sighing, she poured herself a drink, looking around her place. Her eyes stopped on one particular brunette, and her face quickly lit up. "Ruby!" Emma grinned, walking up to her old friend, wrapping her up in a quick hug.

The two sat at the island between her living room and kitchen and talked for easily an hour, drinks flowing quickly. Their laughs grew louder and their conversations grew deeper.

"I saw that Lily was here." Ruby mumbled, careful about approaching the subject.

"Yeah, she actually threw this whole thing together. I figured she would have invited you?" Emma frowned, wondering how Ruby ended up here if it wasn't for Lily.

"She must have invited my roommate, I guess. I'm her "plus one"." Ruby chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, how are you two? Have you spoken much since, you know..."

"Since we broke up?" Emma finished for her, throwing her drink back in one gulp. "Nope. I ran into her at the grocery store today, and all of a sudden," she waved her hands in the air like a crazy woman, gesturing the apartment, "all of this was happening."

Ruby sighed, pouring her friend another drink.

"Look, it's okay, Ruby, We happened a long time ago. I've moved on." Ruby raised a questioning eyebrow. "Just because I'm not _with_ anyone right now, doesn't mean I haven't. I mean, cut me some slack Rubes, I've been behind bars for crying out loud." She grimaces at her own words. "Point is, I don't want her anymore and she, well…" Emma gestures towards the object of their conversation as she draped herself around a random woman, practically shoving her tongue down her throat. "She clearly doesn't want me either."

Both the women seemed to roll their eyes at exactly the same time causing Ruby to reach over and reassuringly squeeze her friend's shoulder, smiling softly.

A sudden, loud thumping on her door got their attention, but what made Emma stumble to her feet was the fact that the door suddenly blew open, banging against the wall. The whole room grew quieter.

"Who the fuck?" Emma mumbled, staggered forward, squinting her eyes. "Oh, Regina! Hey!" She smiled, despite being confused at the woman's presence and seemingly bad mood. "Welcome to the party."

"Miss Swan." Regina's tone sent shivers down her spine. She was so calm and put together, that she was actually scary. Crap. "What the hell do you think this is? I work all day like a fucking slave and when I finally come home to relax, this is definitely not something I want to come back to!" She raises her voice slightly, gesturing around the room and out into the corridor. "Not to mention the fact that I have a sixteen-year-old who definitely doesn't need exposing to this kind of behaviour right now."

Emma frowned. Sure, she might now have wanted this party in a way it ended up being, and she was tired of everyone here but Ruby, but now? Hell no. Nobody was going to come into her home and yell at her, telling her what she can and cannot do. Her rebellious spirit wouldn't allow it, even if it were just to spite her new neighbour.

A slight smirk grew on her face. "Sure Regina." She responded as sweetly as she could muster. A soft chuckle emanated from Ruby who was seated behind her still. "Consider it done." Her smile now matched the tone of her over; overly sweet.

Regina looked at her for a moment, and even from a distance, Emma could see her nostrils flaring in anger. It made her chest tighten with pride.

A few seconds later she was gone, slamming the door shut with as much noise and ruckus as when she banged it open.

Emma slowly turned around and stared at Ruby, both their eyes wide open in shock, before they broke up in uncontrollable laughter.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was my new neighbour. Regina. She seems like a delight, right?" Emma shook her head, once again sitting down besides her friend.

"She may not be the most exciting person to be around, but hot damn," Ruby smirked; "she's super hot. You should totally tap that."

Emma arched an eyebrow, swirling the drink inside her glass before once again downing its components.

"Yeah. Yeah, I totally should." Emma's mind began spinning ideas, a smirk now forming on her face as well. "Here's to life's beautiful challenges." She raised her newly filled glass and clinked it with Ruby's.

In slow, unsteady steps, Emma made her way over to the speaker system, turned the dial and cranked up the volume.

She was gonna play good, but not tonight.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The morning came all too quickly, as far as Regina was concerned. She barely slept last night, thanks to her new neighbours shenanigans. The little visit she paid her yesterday only seemed to rile her up more and by the end of the night Regina had half the mind to call the police and report it all. She probably would have, if Henry had said anything to her about having trouble sleeping because of it.

Quite on the contrary, the only problem Regina had with regards to Henry last night was the fact that the boy seemed to want to go back outside as soon as she shoved him inside their apartment.

Their morning was a silent one: whether Henry chose to ignore his mother out of spite for her "not letting him have any fun" or simply because both were exhausted, Regina couldn't figure out.

A knock on the door brought them both out of their thoughts. Henry, almost too eagerly, jumped out of his seat and trotted to open it.

"Hey kid!" Emma mumbled from outside the door as she reached over and ruffled up Henry's hair.

"Hi Emma!" the grin on Henry's face was noticeable in his voice.

Regina's eyebrows instantly drew together as she watched their interaction. Setting down her cup of coffee, she crossed her arms across her chest and walked over to the pair, standing righteously behind her son.

"I didn't realise you two had the pleasure of meeting." Regina said in greeting, disapproval seeping into her words. "Is there something we can help you with, Miss Swan?" Her tone suggested nothing but the fact that she wanted to get this over and done with.

Taking in the sight before her, Regina couldn't help but roll her eyes. Emma was standing before them in an oversized white dress shirt and a pair of red shorts that barely covered anything. Regina almost felt the need to cover Henry's eyes.

She was practically the exact opposite of Regina, who was already dressed in her Wednesday navy pantsuit.

Ignoring Regina's tone, Emma turned her gaze to Henry again and smiled at him sweetly. "Kid, you got any aspirin or something I could borrow?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Swan, we don't ha-" before Regina could finish her sentence, Henry was already on his way to their medicine cabinet yelling that he'll be right back.

Sighing audibly, Regina crossed her arms tighter around her chest. Shuffling her feet, Emma started playing with the bottoms of her shirtsleeves.

"Listen, Regina, I'm sorry about last night, okay? Things got a bit out of hand; I admit that. As far as first impressions go, I guess I didn't make a great one, huh?" she mumbled sheepishly, raising her arm and scratching the back of her neck in an equally sheepish manner. The gesture raised her shirt just enough to show a sliver of a perfectly toned stomach.

Regina's eyes didn't fail to notice, though she averted her gaze immediately.

"You're definitely right about that." She responded, glaring at Emma with annoyance and irritation filling her eyes. "Henry and I have lived here for a long time, Miss Swan, and we like how things are. If the kind of behaviour you showed yesterday keeps happening, I'm afraid you'll give me no choice but to talk to the agency."

Slight frustration flashed on Emma's face. This woman was going to be a royal pain in the ass: that was for sure. But if she were to ever achieve what she told herself she would, she'd have to play along; at least for now.

"It won't happen again, okay? The party last night wasn't even my idea and it just continued getting out of control as the night went on. I'd had too much to drink and honestly, I didn't have the will to stop it." She shrugged. "Maybe you should try letting lose once upon a blue moon too, then you'd understand."

Crap. She wasn't supposed to say the last part.

Regina's jaw clenched and if looks could kill…

"Shit, sorry. What I mean is- uh-" she paused, again scratching the back of her neck, struggling for words.

Uncrossing her arms, Regina lifted a hand in protest. "Save it, Miss Swan." She mumbled bitterly, staring at her with daggers in her eyes. She only turned her head when she heard Henry jogging towards them with a bottle of pills rattling in his hands.

"Sorry, I couldn't find the right ones." He murmured, passing the bottle to a once again smiling Emma.

"Thanks kid." She then turned her attention back to Regina, holding up the bottle of pills. "Mind if I give this back to you later?"

Regina was about to respond, when she heard the familiar sound of the elevator, her face instantly lighting up. Frowning slightly, Emma turned around. Walking out of the elevator was a fairly handsome man, a smile forming on his face as soon as his eyes met Regina.

"Good morning, love." He greeted from the elevator, walking over and kissing Regina's cheek. "Henry" he smiled and ruffled the boy's hair in a similar manner to what Emma did some time before.

"Good morning, dear." Regina answered, her tone sweeter and warmer than Emma had heard her use before.

Taking a stand beside Regina, the man wrapped one of his arms tightly around her shoulder, pulling her close, and the other he outstretched in Emma's direction.

"Hi, I'm Robin."

"Emma. I'm Regina's new neighbour." She greeted in return, shaking the man's hand and trying to seem as put together as she could muster right now.

This was definitely not part of her plan and not something she anticipated. Not necessarily the fact that Regina was with a man, but the fact that she was in a relationship at all. She seemed like such a stuck up pain in the ass, Emma simply didn't imagine her with anyone. Though, from just a few seconds of Regina's interaction with Robin, she saw a different person than she'd had the pleasure of meeting so far.

Her whole demeanour changed: her face was graced with a genuine smile, her eyes were happy; she just…had a glow around her.

"It's nice to meet you." They both spoke at the same time. Emma seemed to be doing that a lot."Uhm, anyway… I'll leave you guys alone." She raised the bottle of pills, rattling them in the air. "I'll bring these back to you tonight."

If Regina didn't know any better, all of a sudden, Emma seemed almost defeated. As soon as Robin stepped out of the elevator, the mood shifted as far as her neighbour was concerned.

Wrapping her arm around Robin's waist, Regina looked at Emma. "You know, I never said you can take them."

She felt the man at her side give her a little nudge, and when she looked at him, Robin gave Regina a look. Rolling her eyes, she returned her gaze to Emma.

"Fine. Just don't use all of them." And with that she turned around with Robin in tow, stepping further into her apartment. "Come on, Henry."

"See you later Emma." The boy smiled and followed his mother, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as the door closed, Regina let out a long breath, shaking her head.

"Did I sense some tension back there?" Robin asked, trying to be as sensitive as he could, noticing the situation was uneasy for Regina. "Come here, talk to me." He opened his arms, gesturing for her to join him.

Giving him a faint smile, Regina walked into his arms, resting her forehead against his chest, as Robin wrapped her up in a tight embrace.

"She's just so obnoxious, Robin. And so loud and so shameless! I mean, did you see what she was wearing?!" She lifted her head, her eyes wide with shock. Robin chuckled, taking her hands into his and giving them a squeeze.

"Relax. It'll be okay." He smiled, wrapping Regina's arms around his neck and bringing his lips close to her ear. "I'll make it all better."

Her body immediately relaxed and a grin started forming on her face when she felt Robin's lips pepper kisses form her ear and down her neck.

"Ew, mom! And you think _that_ is appropriate behaviour in front of your sixteen year old son?" Henry mumbled with his mouth full of cereal, his face scrunched in disgust.

Regina moved away from Robin and then proceeded to further push him away, holding in a giggle. "Finish your breakfast and go get ready for school, Henry." The boy rolled his eyes, but wolfed down the rest of his cereal and jogged to his room anyway.

He didn't love seeing a man grope his mother and be inappropriate with her right in front of him, but deep down, he knew that Robin made her happy, and that's all he ever really wanted. It'd been a while since he'd seen his mother genuinely smile before Robin came into their lives.

Ten minutes later, everyone was ready to go. Robin usually popped into their apartment most mornings. He dropped Henry off with Regina, and then the two of them would usually stop for another coffee before they both departed for work. They didn't get to spend too much time together, so they grasped at any extra minutes they could.

They were both busy people and they had respect for each other, their work and personal life outside of the other.

"I'll see you later, my love, okay?" Robin asked through the rolled down window of his car as he dropped Regina off at the university.

"Definitely." She replied, leaning down and giving him a quick kiss before he drove away.

* * *

Emma spent the better part of her day being the responsible adult she wanted to believe she was, by cleaning her mess of an apartment.

The amount of pizza boxes and red solo cups scattered around the place was uncanny, not to mention the overall stickiness of her furniture was enough to make Emma gag.

Her hair was swept in a messy bun situated atop her head, and she sported a plain white tank top and a pair of jeans. Emma was practically a walking and talking advertisement for casual clothing. She did pride herself, however, on her array of leather jackets. They were her proudest possession.

That being said, Emma definitely didn't feel like she was in a state for having anyone over again, so when a knock sounded at her door, she almost didn't open.

"Emma? It's Lily." A voice came from the other side of the door after a few more unsuccessful knocks were made. Sighing, Emma looked around her apartment: it definitely looked much better than this morning.

Walking over to the door, she pushed on the doorknob with the back of her hand, which was currently dressed in a yellow latex glove.

"Hey. What's up?" She asked, using her forearm to wipe a bit of sweat from her forehead.

Peaking inside, Lily made a face. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, it's fine. Though if you wanna come in and help me out a bit, that'd be great, too. I'm holding you partly responsible for what became of my apartment last night." She mumbled with just a tad of annoyance in her voice as she pointed a latex finger in Lily's face.

"Alright alright." Lily chuckled, pushing past Emma. She threw her bag and jacket on the sofa, opening up her arms in invitation. "Hit me with the worst you've got."

Emma grinned, taking off the gloves on her hands and passing them to Lily. A small smirk adorned her lips. "Bathroom's all yours." She motioned with her head, smirk widening. Lily's face dropped and she suddenly seemed dispirited.

"Come on, Ems." She whined but took the gloves from her anyway and headed for the dreaded room. Emma, on the other hand, walked to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She figured maybe her hangover would go away if she kept herself drunk.

Glass of white wine in tow, she followed Lily and leaned against the door frame, watching with satisfaction as she got to work on the bathroom with pure disgust written all over her face.

"I sincerely hope you at least enjoyed yourself last night, otherwise what I'm about to do won't be worth it in the slightest." Lily grimaced.

Emma chuckled, taking a sip of her wine. "Whether I enjoyed myself or not, is irrelevant. You enjoyed yourself enough for the both of us, it seemed." She didn't mean for the slight bitterness in her voice and she tried covering it up by quickly taking another sip.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you sound jealous, Em." She looked up at the woman in the doorframe.

Emma nearly choked on her wine. Shaking her head, she raised her hand in protest. "I'll tell you again like I told Ruby last night: I'm over you, Lily. We happened a long time ago, and we've both moved on now. That's how this works." She shrugged. "Besides, I've got my eye on someone else." She mumbled absentmindedly, lost in the view outside the window.

"Oh?"

Emma blinked, looking back at Lily, a little flustered. "What?"

"So, who's the lucky girl?" Lily prodded.

"She is definitely a woman, not a girl. That much is for sure." She smiled despite herself, her mind wandering to the contours of Regina's body in her tight suits that she already managed to get etched into her brain. "Trying to be with her is going to be mighty difficult, but you know me, I like a challenge." She chuckled softly, finishing her wine and setting the glass down.

Raising an eyebrow, Lily finished what she was doing, then proceeded to take off the gloves and draped them over the sink. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Regina." Emma answered nonchalantly.

For a moment Lily seemed confused, but when she finally understood, her eyebrows nearly lifted off her face. "The crazy lady from last night?"

"She's not crazy." Emma defended, but the look she got from Lily made her roll her eyes and try again: "Okay, she's not _that_ crazy. Besides, like I said, I appreciate a challenge." She shrugged, picking up her empty glass and moving back to the living room with Lily on her tail.

"I've got an in, her son seems to like me. She does, however, have a boyfriend of sorts, I think." Emma sounds a little troubled, frowning as she thought of Robin.

Lily chuckled. "If there's one thing I know about you and taken ladies, is that they always seem to choose you. I can vouch from personal experience." She smiles softly. "You've got a way with people, Ems. She'd be lucky to have you." Lily shrugged softly.

Pushing past the slight blush adoring her cheeks, Emma reached behind her on the kitchen counter and picked up a bottle of pills between her thumb and index finger. "I've gotta return these to her tonight, so wish me luck." Emma laughs softly.

"You don't need it." She smiled, holding Emma's gaze for a little longer than necessary. "Anyway, I just came by to make sure you're okay. I'm sorry that things got a bit out of control yesterday." Lily walked over to the sofa and picked up her things. "I'll see you some other time: keep in touch." She once again gave Emma a goodbye kiss on the cheek, then swiftly left her apartment.

* * *

Henry got home early this particular afternoon: he didn't have any extracurriculars on Wednesday and that always left him with some alone time before his mom got back home.

He loved her to bits but anyone could admit that she was a little intense, especially when you're her son. He knew that she only wanted what's best for him and in the long run he really did appreciate it. On Wednesdays, he just thanked his lucky stars that he got to play Call of Duty in peace, without his mom nagging him about homework.

A couple of hours into the game, Henry heard a knock on the door. Pausing, he frowned and glanced at the clock on the wall. His mom wasn't due home for another thirty minutes or so, and she had the key anyway. He wasn't really supposed to be opening the door when she wasn't there, unless she told him that Robin would be coming over early.

Curious, Henry peaked through the peephole.

Recognising the person easily enough, Henry opened the door and smiled in greeting.

"Hey kid, is your mom home?" Emma asked, looking around the apartment behind him, then directing her gaze back to the boy.

"She should be home within the next half hour. You can come in and wait for her if you want." He stepped aside, making room for her to squeeze past him in the door.

"Oh I don't know kid, I'm not sure she would appreciate that."

"Come on, it's okay." He took hold of her elbow and practically dragged her inside. "Do you play?"

Emma look positively puzzled. "Play what?"

"Xbox, of course." The boy grinned, gesturing towards the frozen soldiers on the living room TV. "Call of Duty, to be more specific."

"Kid, you don't know what you're about to get yourself into." Emma grinned, moving over to their fancy leather sofa and grabbing the controller Henry was playing with, unpausing his game and giving it a go to get back into the groove of playing.

Emma used to do this all the time when she was younger and she always slayed her opponents. She knew strategy and she was sly with her manoeuvres: she was the perfect teammate and the dreaded enemy.

Once the other controller was all prepped, Henry stopped her game and chose the multiplayer mode, starting them off with a new game.

"I'm gonna kick your ass, Emma." Was all he said before the both of them got lost in a different world. As they played, they didn't really speak in coherent sentences and even those weren't really spoken to each other. They mostly just yelled at the game and their players in turn.

Henry was so into the game he was practically hovering over his seat, hoping that standing would somehow give him an advantage when it came to trying to shoot his opponent down. Emma, in turn, was so concentrated that her tongue stuck out of the side of her mouth practically the whole time they played.

Regina had been standing by the front door for a few minutes, just watching the sight in front of her. She was angry at first, Henry knew he wasn't supposed to be opening the door for strangers, and that's basically who Emma was. But it only took her a couple of seconds to notice how happy he looked. Despite both of them yelling either at each other or at the screen, Henry seemed happy, full of energy and he was practically glowing with excitement at his new Xbox buddy.

Knowing she needed to make her presence known at some point, Regina cleared her throat loudly.

"Crap." She heard Henry mumble under his breath as he paused the game. "Hi mom."

"Hello dear." She greeted, walking over to him and kissing him on the forehead. "Go do some homework please, I need to talk to Miss Swan." Regina mumbled in a serious tone. Looking at Henry's pleading face, she sighed. "You can play some more later."

"Score." He grinned, grabbing his backpack from the floor by the edge of the sofa and jogged to his room.

Emma whistled, making big eyes. "You keep him on quite a strict schedule, huh?"

"I do what needs to be done, Miss Swan, not that it's any of your business." She pauses. "What are you doing in my apartment?"

"Henry let me in." Emma answered awkwardly.

Regina just looked at Emma like she was about to get on her knees and start praying for patience. "Well I figured you didn't just break in and start playing video games with my son, Miss Swan. I mean _why_ are you here? From what I gathered last night, you have plenty of friends your own age."

"I just wanted to apologise. Again. I was acting childish and I wanted to spite you." She shrugged. "But hold on, just wait here." Emma held up her hands and quickly dashed out of Regina's apartment only to return some seconds later to a dumbfounded looking Regina still standing in the same spot.

Outstretching her hands, Emma presented her neighbour with an expensive looking bottle of wine. "I got you something. You look like the red wine type of woman, so I got you my favourite." She smiled shyly.

Frowning softly, Regina took the bottle into her own hands, examining it.

" _This_ is your favourite red wine?" she questioned.

Emma nodded softly. She was sure she made a good choice, but now seeing Regina's reaction she severely doubted herself. She was supposed to be making Regina like her, and she can't very well do that by giving her a shitty bottle of wine that she probably hates. Damn it.

"It's my favourite, too." She pondered. "What are the odds?" Regina mused and walked over to the kitchen island, setting the bottle down. Emma breathed a loud sigh of relief and Regina could swear she could hear her mumble "thank god" under her breath.

"Well, now that you've said your apologies again and given me your bribe, is there anything else?"

"I'm not bribing you." Emma jumped at the offense, earning herself a raised eyebrow from her neighbour. She sighed in defeat.

"Miss Swan, is there anything else?"

"That depends. Do you forgive me?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Regina scoffed, taking a quick glance at the bottle of wine. "Not a bribe my ass." She mumbled. "Yes, you're forgiven. Now please leave, I'm expecting company."

"Your boyfriend?" Emma deadpanned.

Looking slightly taken aback, Regina placed her hands on her hips. "Again, not that it's any of your business, but yes."

Emma nodded, smiling softly to herself. Regina seemed stuck up, but she was beginning to feel like this hard ass demeanour was just that: a layer she reserved for people she didn't know or yet trust and right now, Emma was pretty high on that list. But Regina was capable of opening up, she'd seen her interact with Henry and with Robin, and both times there was nothing but love in her eyes.

Emma wasn't shooting that high. She knew she wasn't capable of making someone, especially someone like Regina, fall in love with her. Right now she would settle on even a seed of doubt. Something that could make Regina see that she was worth putting her walls down for.

She was curious to see the real Regina; not that she didn't enjoy the current one. She was growing accustomed to being a pain in Regina's ass. That's how all the good stories start, after all.

"Have a good night, Regina. I'll see you tomorrow." She smiled, and without further explanation, left her apartment.

Regina was once again left stranded in her kitchen, wondering what on Earth just happened.

* * *

 **AN: Thanks for the reviews, follows and faves guys, it really means a lot! I really love this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy it too! Please let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

A few days had passed since Emma and Regina's last encounter. Regina seemed to be burying her nose in her job and Emma… Well, Emma was trying to find a way to get her old job _back_. She used to be a bail bondsperson before she was put behind bars. Her previous firm had changed owners, shifting the whole balance of the company, making her return just that much harder.

Her old boss still worked there, and at present time, she was trying to convince him why letting her back into the company was a good idea.

"Listen, Mr Gold." She started again for the tenth time that day. "We've all made mistakes, we all outgrow who we used to be, okay? It may just seem like two short years to you, but I've grown _a lot_ since then. I'm not the same irresponsible Emma anymore." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as frustration washed over her.

"You know how good I was at this job, you need someone like me." Her voice was almost pleading now. "These new kids, they're not the same, you know? They don't know these streets like I do." She shrugged, trying very hard now to sound even somewhat nonchalant.

"Look, dearie." her former boss sighed, "Even if I wanted to give you this job back, it's not that simple. Zoso isn't here anymore: things have changed. Do you think the new owner would gladly welcome an ex-felon into the company's waiting arms?"

Emma shook her head with a sigh. "Just tell the guy how good I was. If he knows you at all, he'll know you have a great judge of character. And you know you can trust me, Gold. Come on. Just give me a chance."

She knew it was a long shot that she probably didn't deserve. She fucked up and she was the first to admit it. She was just glad Gold didn't ask questions or made her talk about it: in too much detail, anyway.

"I know you've grown, Emma." He sighs, almost sympathetic now. _Almost_. "I'm just saying, it's not going to be easy. Even if you were to get the job back, it'd be twice as hard for you to keep it than any other employee in this shit hole."

Emma nodded slightly. She understood the consequences. "I know that, Go-"

Before she even got a chance to finish her sentence, her former boss was at it again.

"Any mistake you make, no matter how small, would be interrogated with such accuracy it'd blow your socks off. You'd literally have no room for error."

"I know. I get that. I just need a chance to prove that I deserve this." Was all she said in response with the tiniest nod of her head.

"Fine. I'll go talk to him. Wait here, but don't get your hopes up." And with that, he left the room.

How was she supposed to not get her hopes up? She needed this job; hell, she needed any job. She was starting to slowly lose her mind at home and it's only been a few days. Besides, living in a place like she did and being neighbours with someone like Regina… it did get your juices flowing. For lack of a better phrase, Regina actually inspired her to get her ass out of bed and to try and get her job back.

Five minutes had passed. Ten. Twenty. Half an hour. Emma let out a long, heavy breath, twirling around the pen in her hand. She always got fidgety whenever she got nervous. She always liked keeping her hopes up, but it never stopped the impending realism from washing over her like a rainstorm.

She shudders at the thought.

Caught up in her thoughts, Emma didn't even notice when Gold managed to squeeze past her and sit behind his desk again.

Widening her eyes in surprise, Emma sat up straight momentarily, dropping the pen on the desk with a soft thud.

"And?!" she demands, practically bouncing at the edge of her seat, smiling despite herself.

Gold was silent for a moment. And then some more.

"Oh." She whispered, slowly retreating then basically slumping back into her chair. She should have never gotten her hopes up. She was so damn stupid. Whatever. She wasn't going to let herself get down because of this.

There were plenty of other things she could do with her life. She still had enough money to comfortably last her for a while, so she wasn't desperate for cash. She was just desperate for a way to kill her time, but she would figure something out.

Nodding, she bit her bottom lip and sighed softly. Standing up, she neatly pushed the chair she was using in its rightful place and made for the door.

"Your first assignment will be next week."

She paused in her step, eyes widening in shock. She turned slowly on the heels of her feet, her eyes widening even more with every second they were closer to landing on Gold.

"You will be supervised, but it's better than nothing, I sup-" he never got to finish his sentence when Emma suddenly practically landed in his lap as she tried to give him a hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she screamed in his ear, giving him a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. "You don't know how much this means!" she grinned.

"I can imagine." He grimaced, wiping her saliva from his cheek, making a gagging noise. "Now scoot before I change my mind." He very gently, and as politely as he could, pushed her off him.

"Thanks, really." She said more seriously this time, straightening up as she stood. "You won't regret it." She smiled, and with that, not wanting to push her luck, she left the building.

Whoever said that people don't change and you can't switch your life around obviously didn't know her. Emma was nothing but determined and there was usually nothing she couldn't get once she'd set her mind to it.

Apparently convincing her old company to give her, her job back was no different.

Emma practically bounced once she left the building, pausing to look at the skyscraper which practically had the words 'welcome back' written all over it. Though she knew that if she squinted, the words 'don't fuck up' would be there too, just fainter.

She knew she couldn't mess up again. She wouldn't. There's no way she'd ever let herself be that stupid again, that was for sure. Like she told Gold, she'd grown up and she wasn't the same person she was two or even three years ago.

Sure, most of her was still the same, but her morals were different. She was still the person, who loved cocoa with cinnamon sprinkled on top, who tortured herself by watching horror movies alone at night, who never learned to cook properly and who seemed to be the least sentimental being on Earth, hence her whole life fitting in merely two-ish suitcases despite the fact that she was a grown ass woman.

The important things about her had changed. She felt more serious about life now, having spent two years of it behind bars for something so goddamn stupid. She wasn't going to let it happen again. Emma wanted to be the best person she could, well for the most part.

She considered briefly that her intentions of going after Regina didn't have the best intentions, but when an opportunity like this arose? She couldn't say no. Winning her over will feel so sweet, and she knew it.

Emma loved the idea of going and winning against odds, and with Regina, the odds were more than against her. She was taken. She was completely out of her league. She was her polar opposite, and while she mostly believed that opposites attract, there were always limits.

However, she just got her job back. She wasn't going to let herself dampen her own spirit. Smiling, she started making her way home, stopping in to get some coffee and a box of donuts on the way: no better way of celebrating, in her eyes.

Stepping into the elevator of her building, she balanced the coffee in one hand and the donut box in the other while still managing to press the button for the top floor. See? She had skills.

As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, her grin dropped slightly. Pressing a button with two full hands is easy enough, but how the hell was she supposed to take out her key, and not to mention, actually use it? Damn it.

Almost as if her luck refused to run out tonight, the Mills door swung open and Henry popped his head out.

"Emma, hey! I was just about to come knock on your door!" he grinned, stepping out fully.

"What's up kid?" she mumbled, sticking out her tongue as she tried to somehow get her key out of her pocket. "Can you help me with my door? There's a spare key in the potted plant." She nodded towards the fern by her door.

"Well actually, I was gonna ask if you wanna come over and play some more?" He smiled somewhat shyly and throwing his best puppy dog eyes her way.

Frowning, Emma paused for a second. "Is your mom home?"

"Yeah, she said it's okay."

Emma raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, well she figured I was gonna come over and ask you no matter what she'd say anyway, and she likes to seem like she's in control, so she "agreed"." He shrugged, actually seeming proud of himself.

"I don't know, kid."

"Please, Emma!" he whined. "I haven't had a good opponent in such a long time."

She raised an eyebrow again. "What about Robin?"

Henry's face scrunched in displease. "He's a nice guy, don't get me wrong, but the one time that I tried playing with him, it was so discouraging that I never asked again." The boy shuddered at the thought. "Come on."

Henry took the box of donuts from her hand and used it as a leverage to make the woman follow him inside the apartment. Rolling her eyes, Emma sheepishly shadowed his steps and they walked into the living room just as Regina was coming out from, what Emma could only assume, was her bedroom.

She was dressed slightly more casually than Emma had seen before: black suit pants with a bright red blouse – and quite low cut, if Emma could say so herself. Regina raised her gaze noticing the figures now standing in the middle of the room and sent Henry a quick smile as she finished closing the clasp on one of her earrings.

"Miss Swan." She simply murmured in greeting to her neighbour.

Emma smiled, "Hi Regina."

Seemingly ignoring her after the initial acknowledgement, Regina turned to her son once more. "Henry, don't forget that Robin will be here soon and we'll be leaving shortly. If you wish, you can invite Emma over for tomorrow."

Frowning, Henry set down the donut box on their island in the kitchen and in that moment Emma noticed how similarly set their apartments were, yet how different they seemed.

Her apartment was a house. Theirs was a home.

Emma's place, while cluttered with random things, seemed to be missing something. It was empty not in the physical sense, but…it just didn't feel the same as Regina and Henry's. Their apartment screamed 'happy family'.

Henry's things were scattered all over the apartment, though neatly enough for Regina to not have a fit. Her things were organised neatly on shelves. A few of Robin's things lay here and there.

The Mills apartment was filled with the scent of Apple Cinnamon Yankee candles, which she noticed in various crooks of the place.

It was lovely.

Snapping out of her thoughts with a slight shake of the head, Emma focuses back on the pair in front of her. She knew coming over wasn't a good idea, she could tell from Regina's face as soon as she laid eyes on her.

"Can Emma come?"

Emma raised her eyebrows. Well that's a shocker.

Regina looked slightly taken aback at first, but her game face was on faster than Emma could blink.

"I'm sure Emma has better things to do than to go with us to the park, Henry. Don't you, Miss Swan?" She looked at Emma pointedly, her eyes screaming for her neighbour to follow the social cue.

"Please Emma." Henry pleaded with her again, putting his palms together as if in prayer. How could she _possibly_ say no to that face?

Emma nodded. "Sure, kid. Anything for you."

Regina's face dropped. Emma smirked.

"Yes! Awesome." Henry grinned, raising his hand up for Emma to high five, which she does, considering she's now got a free hand.

"We can take the donut to the park with us, have a little picnic." Emma suggests, her eyes now glued to Regina.

"How considerate of you, Miss Swan." Her voice was drenched with annoyance and she practically murmured the sentence through gritted teeth.

"I try."

* * *

Not long afterwards, Emma was sitting in the back seat of Robin's car with Henry right by her side, while the man and Regina chatted about other matters up at the front.

Henry was excitedly talking her ear off.

He seemed like a lonely kid, and the thought made Emma a little sad. He was a great boy and she didn't know shit about parenting, but she figured Regina could let him loose a little bit. Emma had lived there for almost a week and she hadn't seen any possible friends. The boy is always either at school or at home doing homework or working on chores.

Maybe that's how it was supposed to be, she didn't know any better. It's not like she ever grew up in a loving family and in all fairness, Henry didn't seem unhappy.

"-and then Fridays, like today, we usually do something family oriented. You know, like going to the park, or to the zoo, or seeing a movie, or going out for ice cream or something. Today is park day. I like park day."

Emma smiled, nodding as she bumped his knee with her own. "Sounds great, kid."

Every once in a while, Emma would feel someone watching her, and whenever she looked up, Regina was watching her through the rear view mirror.

And then it dawned on Emma. She squinted her eyes into slits, looking at Regina curiously. _Who the hell wears pant suits to the park?!_ Shaking her head and letting out the slightest of chuckles, Emma didn't comment. The woman was full of surprises.

Noticing she wasn't as responsive as he'd hoped, Henry realised he might be coming on a little strong, so he decided to turn it down a notch, instead just opting for nudging Emma with his elbow and smiling softly at her.

"Thanks for coming today. You didn't have to, and I appreciate it."

Emma smiled right back. "It's my pleasure, kid." She ruffled his hair, and the rest of the ride was spent in silence for them both.

Regina and Robin spoke of trivial things, mostly small talk, but they filled the whole journey with speech nonetheless.

They got out of the car soon after that. Regina and Henry led the way, while Emma followed. Robin was going to meet them as soon as he managed to park his car somewhere.

Regina wrapped her arm around her son's shoulder protectively as they walked, pulling him closer to her side. "Where do you want to sit, my love?" she asked, looking at her son with a smile.

Shrugging softly, Henry pointed to the biggest tree he could see within bearable walking distance. "That's pretty good. We can all easily fit under the canopy."

Regina nodded, and as soon as they reached said tree, she started digging around in her picnic bag for things to put out. She laid out the blanket almost immediately and Henry quickly plopped down on it, crossing his legs.

"Need help?" Emma jumped at the opportunity, stepping closer to Regina and giving her a soft smile.

Slightly hesitant, Regina nodded faintly. Smiling more, Emma reached for the bag and started helping Regina put everything out on the blanket, as neatly as she could manage it.

"That's quite a picnic spread." Emma whistled, impressed, once everything was out and they grabbed a seat on opposite sides of Henry.

"Thanks Emma." A voice came from above them, Robin letting them know of his presence as he took his final steps towards them, sitting down next to Regina and wrapping his arms around her. "Yeah, I put it together." He mumbled proudly, noticing Emma's raised eyebrows.

Frowning slightly, Emma noticed that when he came back from the car, Robin had a backpack with him that she hadn't seen before. "What's in the bag?" She questioned.

"Oh, this-" He started, sitting up and opening the backpack. "- is a remote control scooter boat I thought Henry and I could take for a spin around the lake." Robin grinned, seeing the excited grin forming on Henry's face.

The boy was on his feet faster than Regina could even react, and before they knew it, the men in their little group ran off eagerly towards the lake as if both of them were little kids who just unwrapped a present at Christmas.

An awkward silence fell between the women.

"Uhm, thanks for letting me tag along." Emma mumbled sheepishly, toying with the edge of the blanket by her hand.

Regina cast her a quick glance, taking her time with the answer. She took two of their plastic wine glasses out and proceeded to open up the wine they brought with them. Emma's face instantly lit up when she noticed it was the one that she had given Regina a few days prior.

Filling both glasses, she passed one to Emma.

"I'm doing this for Henry, not you, Miss Swan." She mumbled, raising her glass. "To Henry."

"To Henry." Emma chimed, clinking her glass with Regina's softly and taking a sip. Both women fell silent again, their gazes trailing over to Henry and Robin taking turns steering the boat from shore.

"He's a good kid." Emma whispers absentmindedly, taking another small sip of the wine, unconsciously scooting closer to Regina to the point where they were both leaning on their free arms, almost touching.

Regina didn't move her eyes from her son, a loving smile spreading on her lips. "Yeah, he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'm really lucky to have him. And to think I almost gave him up once." She chuckled dryly, also taking a sip of her wine, and turning to face Emma.

Her breath hitched a little in her throat. When she turned her head, her and Emma's faces were extremely close to touching: so much so, she could feel Emma's breath tickling her lips.

Sitting up straight, Regina tucked her legs underneath her body, facing Emma from slightly more of a distance.

"What do you mean?" Emma asks after a moment, determined to not let awkwardness wash over them once more, even though her heart rate had significantly picked up speed.

Regina shrugged, and Emma could tell she was dealing with an internal struggle of whether she should open up to her. It seemed like a sensitive topic, so Emma wasn't going to push either way. She stayed silent for a while, letting Regina think. Minutes passed and she just assumed the topic was over, once Regina's eyes were once again glued to her son.

"Henry's adopted." She whispered suddenly, the slight breeze in the air carrying her words in Emma's direction. She looked at her companion again, this time careful to keep her distance. "When I first got him, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to handle it." She frowned, slight regret clouding her features. "I had a meeting with the adoption agency arranged, but when the time came to actually hand him over, I just couldn't do it." The pain in Regina's voice was evident.

Emma sighed softly, unable to take her eyes away from the broken look in Regina's eyes. "Hey." She mumbled, getting her attention back to herself. "You made the right choice. There's nothing wrong with having doubts, you're human. Don't beat yourself up for it." She gently put her hand on top of Regina's, giving it a soft, reassuring squeeze.

Almost instinctively, Regina snatched her hand away. She seemed extremely vulnerable in that moment, and Emma couldn't believe she actually opened up to her like this. "Henry doesn't know. Neither does Robin, so please don't say anything. I don't want Henry to find out from anyone but me." She whispered, her voice heavy with guilt.

Emma felt for her. She seemed to be really struggling with her secret, but she could understand how it's not something that's an easy topic of discussion. She also couldn't believe Regina was confiding in her about something that she hadn't even told her boyfriend about. She would have mused over that a little longer, if it wasn't for the look on Regina's face.

"It's okay. You'll tell him in due time, and Henry is a smart and mature boy. He'll understand. He'll see it for what it is, and that's simply you loving him more than anyone else in the world. The way I see it? It's just going to make him love you more."

Regina smiled faintly, slowly inching her hand back towards Emma's. She needed comfort; she was just never great at asking for it.

Picking up on the cue immediately, Emma smiled, picking Regina's hand in both of hers and giving it a squeeze.

"Thank you, Miss Swan."

She didn't need to say more; Emma knew she meant that and a world more with just those few simple words.

"Maybe you're not that bad." Regina mumbled after a moment, trying to make light of the situation, which quickly became too much for her.

Emma chuckled, giving Regina's hand one last squeeze before taking her own hands back and placing them behind her body, leaning back.

"And you haven't even seen my best parts yet." Emma grinned.

Reaching over across the blanket, Emma grabbed the box of donuts from before, opening it up and holding it out in Regina's direction.

Shaking her head slightly, Regina put up a hand in protest.

"I don't eat sweets, Miss Swan. And the rare times I do, it's things I bake myself. Do you have any idea how much sugar there is in a donut like that?"

Emma rolled her eyes, picking up a custard filled one and tearing it in two.

"Share it with me." She mumbled, once again extending her hand in Regina's direction. "They're really nice, I promise."

"No, thank you." She started at Emma's hand as if willing it to move away.

"Please?" Emma looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Those kind of tricks only work when Henry does them, Miss Swan. I'm afraid a little puppy dog eye isn't going to make me want to clog my arteries."

An even bigger eye roll from Emma. "It's half a donut, Regina, it won't kill you. Come on, just take a bite. Come to the dark side. We have…donuts, apparently." She grinned again, bringing the hand holding Regina's half of the donut closer to the woman's lips.

"Miss Sw-" Emma took her shot: as Regina opened her mouth to –probably- yell at her, she moved her arm just an inch further, pushing some of the donut into Regina's mouth.

Left with no choice but to bite some off before she choked, Regina threw non-existent daggers in Emma's direction.

"Miss Swan, that was completely unacceptable!" she chewed through the dough in her mouth, and swallowed fast so she could yell at her some more, when suddenly enlightenment registered on her face. "And that was completely delicious." She frowned, surprised at herself.

Emma grinned triumphantly, wolfing down her own half. "I told you!" she mumbled with her mouth full. Regina's face contorted in slight disgust, however she reached for Emma's hand and took what was left of her half, examining it carefully before taking another amused bite.

Two rushed pairs of footsteps approached them rapidly.

"Emma, did you get my mom to eat a donut?!" Henry exclaimed in shock, eyeing his mom as if she had been possessed.

"I thought you don't eat bought sweets." Robin, in turn, frowned.

Regina shrugged, patting the blanket, indicating for both the men to sit back down. "Miss Swan practically shoved it in my mouth." She rolled her eyes, thought glanced at Emma from the corner of her eyes, giving her a sly smile.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon, they sat together, talked and laughed at the park until it started getting cold and dark, which at this time of the year wasn't too late.

When Emma got out of behind bars and ended up in that damned apartment, this was the last thing she could have ever thought would have happened. She felt an actual connection to these people, though she did have her reservations about Robin. Sure, he seemed like a nice guy, but there was just something about him that didn't sit right with her and she couldn't put her finger on just what that was.

As they started gathering their belongings and putting them away and back into the bags and backpacks, everyone shivered slightly, their movements hurried and desperate for warmth.

Regina and Emma started folding the blanket at the same time, going at it from opposite ends, which worked out perfectly as they helped each other out. They stepped closer to each other, raising their arms so that the blanket would lift off the ground, and brought the ends together, folding it in half.

"Thank you, Miss Swan." Regina mumbled, taking the blanket from the other woman's hands, their fingers brushing during the exchange.

Suddenly Emma jumped back a step, holding one of her hands tightly in the other. "Ouch." She whined.

"Are you okay?" Regina dropped the blanket, taking quick steps towards Emma. "What happened?"

Emma looked Regina dead in the eyes, a small smile creeping on her face. "You just made me tingle." A blush erupted on Emma's cheeks. "Um, I mean you gave me an electric shock." She corrected.

"My apologies." Regina carefully reached for Emma's hand, scared of another shock, but it didn't come. She gave her hand a quick squeeze, then turned and went back to folding the blanket and stuffing it in the bag.

"Okay ladies." Robin straightened, throwing the backpack on his shoulder. "Let's get going."

And with that, they left. Soon they were back in their building, and riding the elevator to the top floor. Once they got there, Robin took one of the bags they carried up out of Emma's hands.

"Thanks for your help, Emma." The man smiled and entered the Mills apartment, followed by Henry, who gave her a tight hug beforehand.

Emma and Regina lingered in the hallway for a few moments, Regina's hands stuffed deeply into the pockets of her grey jacket.

"I hope you had fun today, Miss Swan."

Emma nodded, shoving her own hands into the pockets of her red leather jacket.

"I did. I'm glad I changed your opinion on donuts." She chuckled. "Again, thanks for letting me tag along."

Regina stayed silent for a moment, before mumbling a soft "my pleasure" in Emma's direction. Stepping over into her apartment, she looked up and gave Emma a final smile.

"Goodnight, Miss Swan." And with that, she slowly closed the door.

"Goodnight Regina." Emma whispered after Regina was already out of her sight.

Today was a day much better than she expected and for a moment she forgot about everything: about trying to win Regina over, about proving to herself that she can score someone like her. She forgot everything but the feeling of utter happiness and content which washed over her for the whole day.

At least for now.

* * *

 **AN: Again, thank you guys so much for the follows, favourites and reviews! The more I get the more excited and eager I get for writing the next chapters, so please keep it up! Much love! 3**

 **PS. I googled Emma's profession a little and got some information on it, but there will still be inaccuracies I'm sure, so please bare with me!**


	4. Chapter Four

**AN: Again, thank you all for the follows, faves and reviews, I couldn't appreciate it all more! :) Also, as stated last chapter, accuracies with Emma's job and how it's done are probably way off, but it get's the point across. Hope you enjoy! 3**

* * *

Chapter Four

"Fucking, shit fuck." Emma yelled as she rolled off her bed, knocking her little toe into the bedside table. First day of work and she was already at least an hour late. "Just fan-fucking-tastic!" She continued her angry grumbles as she hopped over to the bathroom, tightly holding onto her right foot.

It was times like this that Emma wondered if she hadn't already been through enough in life, and why God – or whoever else was up there – felt the constant need to fuck it up even more. She was a good person. Alright, she was a decent person. She was much better now than she had been when she was younger, that was sure. She was making up for her mistakes and trying to piece her life back together: if there was every any time not to mess with her, this was it.

Stumbling into the bathroom, Emma's sleeve got caught on the door handle and pulled her back, knocking her into the door. " _Oh for the love of God, give me a fucking break!_ " She yelled into the empty space above her head, her hands morphing into fists.

This wouldn't have happened if her bullshit alarm clock's batteries didn't die. She was already beating herself up for it – who still used actual alarm clocks in this day and age? She shook her head and rolled her eyes at herself.

Rushing through getting ready, Emma managed to be dressed and out of the door in the next fifteen minutes. She thanked her lucky stars for knowing how to win against the clock – she had plenty of experience when it came to that.

As soon as she was out of the door, she started pressing the elevator button like a maniac, practically begging it to come faster. The creek of a door made her turn her head quickly, her anger subsiding for a moment as she cracked a smile, before turning back to the elevator and kicking its metallic doors. "Come on!"

Opening his eyes wide, Henry hid behind his door, only leaving his head poking out. "Everything okay, Emma?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She barked, apparently not calmed down yet at all. Emma sighed, closing her eyes tight and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Sorry, kid. Bad morning." She mumbled, and at that exact moment, the elevator doors opened with a ding, almost making Emma jump out of her skin. "First day of work – wish me luck?" She looked at Henry hopefully; stepping inside and holding the doors open with her arm.

Henry's face lit up with excitement. "You got a job? Awesome!" He grinned. "You're gonna tell me all about it when you get back. Now go kick ass." He saluted her as his grin got bigger, and Emma simply nodded in agreement.

Before she knew it, the elevator doors shut right in front of her nose and she shot down to the ground floor – as long as it took for the elevator to get up, Emma was grateful to notice it took only around half the time to get back down. Walking into her yellow bug, Emma strapped herself in and sped off towards her work place.

The journey was long enough in the morning traffic, for Emma to loudly curse throughout all of it. She had a bit of a temper, but with a lifestyle and job like hers, it was nothing to complain about. Being a bail bondsperson – or bounty hunter, if you wish – required precisely the kind of fire which burned deep within Emma's soul.

Emma couldn't wait to get back into all of it – finding people, chasing after them, going under cover as love interests and friends that she never planned on being. It thrilled her, to be able to do those. Searching people up, finding out their deepest darkest secrets; it's what Emma lived for.

It made her forget her own life, which at most times was a blessing.

She definitely couldn't wait to get back in the field.

* * *

"You're going to be on desk duty for the first few weeks, before we can assign you to an actual case."

"Oh for fuc-" Emma paused, realising that showing her true colours on the first day at a job she was lucky to have gotten back, probably wasn't the best idea. "Fine." She corrected, trying to sound happy and excited despite her gritted teeth.

Walking her through a few corridors and a set of double doors that opened into a big room with many cubicles, Gold pointed towards an empty one near the back. "Here's your new home, dearie."

Emma fought the urge to roll her eyes. This was a dump. When she tried getting her job back, she knew it wouldn't be easy, but she honestly didn't expect this – she was so much ahead of this a couple of years ago. Even walking into this room felt like a giant step back for Emma, but there wasn't much she could do about it.

She hoped that showing them she was still just as competent – if not more – at completing her job as before, that they'd reassign her into her old position quickly.

At the desk, there were already some papers waiting for her. She probably wasn't going to be doing much today, apart from sorting through paper work and filing, which she was _beyond_ excited about.

"On the desk, you'll find everything you need to find about your first case. You're going to go out into the field in a couple of weeks, but they want you to prep your case so it's bulletproof. Understand, dearie?" his tone was challenging, almost as if he dared her to show him he made the right choice in giving her a second chance.

Emma raised her eyebrow in slight surprise: this was much better than she had expected. At least she was already assigned a case. Looking up at Gold, Emma nodded with a faint smile. "Researching my case till I basically know it by heart. Gotcha." Emma snapped her fingers and pointed her index one at Gold.

The man rolled his eyes, turning on the heels of his feet and leaving her without a word.

Emma looked at her desk, a content smile gracing her lips. She hadn't had something that was exclusively hers in a while. Sure, she had her current apartment, but that wasn't earned – it was given to her, paid in full. She didn't have to worry about anything when it came to that place, which was part of the reason she didn't start panicking that first night when Regina threatened to call the agency on her.

This job however, was all hers. She had earned it in the past, and she will once again earn her rights to the title she once held – she wasn't even starting at the bottom of the ladder, which was helpful.

Emma sat in her spinning chair, bouncing on it a few times, taking in everything laid out in front of her. She had her case file on the right side of the desk; neatly piled up with many different papers including everything she needed to know about the person she would be tracking down.

Right in front of her was an old time computer, with one of the big chunky monitors – it made her grin. On top of it was a sticky note with her login details.

Towards the left of the desk, lay a few of her old belongings.

"Oh." Emma whispered, her fingers tracing over her all time favourite mug, a photograph oh her and her foster family: they all seemed so happy then. It was taken a few years ago when they went on a road trip across the country. Her foster father had his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder and her foster mother was snuggled into her side.

She smiled faintly – she never took Gold for a sentimental guy, but she made a mental note to thank him when she saw him next. He couldn't possibly know how much keeping these things meant to her.

Emma snapped herself out of it; she didn't have time to get sappy right now. She needed to prove herself, to show that she was more than her mistakes.

But first, coffee.

Grabbing the Simpsons mug from the side of her desk, she gave it a quick rinse to get rid of the dust and boiled some water. A few minutes later, her throat burned with the hot, sweet liquid – she always drowned her coffee in sugar, it was something she had done ever since she was a teenager and it kind of stuck.

Sitting at her desk again, she took another sip of the coffee and sighed contently and put her mug down.

"Okay Swan, let's do this."

Opening up the case file, she started going through the person's history before even looking at who it was. Finding out the name and personal details of the people she needed to track down was always the last thing she liked to look at: she didn't like being influenced by any factors.

After around three hours of research and two coffees later, Emma discovered that the person who she would be working on had a fairly similar past to her own – she didn't like cases like that because they were too relatable. She could often argue that she understand why they would do the things that they did and probably deserved a second chance, but caring for them wasn't in her job description, so she had to push it out of her mind.

They were in the foster system from a young age, just as she had been. They'd been bumped from place to place, though unlike her, they weren't lucky enough to find a permanent place. They'd already been to jail once for being an accessory to theft – that one particularly hit close to home. After getting out, they were on a good path for a while, until recently. This time they got involved with drugs.

They got bailed out and were supposed to return to court the next day, but they just disappeared. Their details have been wiped from all social sites; it was almost as if they had never existed – according to the file, anyway. Emma would have to do way more of her own research to be sure.

Emma shook her head and sighed heavily, feeling bad for whoever this was. She knew she wasn't supposed to sympathise, but she couldn't help it.

"Alright, let's see who you are." She mumbled, finally turning to the very first page in her case file.

Her eyes widened and the paper almost flew out of her hands.

"No." Emma whispered, straightening out the paper and bringing it closer to her face, as if that could change what was on it. "No no no." She shook her head, scrunching the paper into a ball and throwing it into the trashcan.

"What the fuck have you done?" She closed her eyes tightly, rubbing at her temples. Downing the rest of her coffee in one quick gulp, she pushed herself away from her desk, grabbed her jacket and left the room.

She contemplated going to Gold's office and telling him that she was leaving for the day, but decided against it. Instead, she pulled out her phone out of a tight jean pocket and messaged him instead: "Hey Gold. Following a lead – don't worry, won't do anything stupid or illegal. I'll see you tomorrow. PS. Thanks for the mug."

* * *

She wasn't following a lead.

Emma needed to talk, and the only person who seemed fitted was the closest person she had to a best friend right now: Ruby.

She sat down in the coffee shop they agreed to meet at and ordered them both a latte while waiting for her friend. They were supposed to meet at 4, but it came up so last minute, Emma wasn't at all surprised when Ruby turned up ten minutes late.

"Hey." She smiled faintly, getting up to give Ruby a quick hug and to give her the now lukewarm beverage.

"Hey Ems. You okay?" She asked carefully, sitting opposite Emma at the table. She wasn't used to Emma acting like this – feeling sudden needs to meet up for coffee and a chat. Even before she got locked behind bars, she was never the type: unless something was up, of course.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded, sipping her coffee and realising she probably had a problem when it came to it. This was her fourth or fifth coffee today already and she knew she wasn't nearly done with it for the day. "Actually no, not really."

Ruby sighed, nodding and taking off her jacket, preparing for a longer conversation. She appreciated the fact that it felt like Emma might open up to her – she was always such a closed up and guarded person that it felt nice to even have the possibility to be able to help her out with something that was troubling her.

"What's up?"

"I'm fucked, Ruby. I don't know what to do." She mumbled quickly, not planning on beating around the bush – it was too important. "I got my old job ba-" She started, but was interrupted by an excited Ruby.

"What? That's amazing, congratulations!" She grinned, but stopped, noticing the look on Emma's face. "I'm guessing this isn't the point of your story?" She was met by silence and a pissed look from Emma. "Right. Go on."

Sighing softly, Emma tucked her hands between her knees. "They don't want me out on the field yet, but they've assigned me to a case – they want me to get familiar with them before I go out and do anything, you know the drill: get to know their history, habits and stuff, so it'll be easier to locate and pin them down." She mumbled, talking a little too quickly for her own liking.

"Anyway, that's what I was doing at work today – looking through the case, and as I was reading it, I realised how tough this person had it in life, you know? Their story was so similar to mine, I barely made it through till the end without checking who it was in the first place." She shrugged, taking her cup between her hands and warming her palms while taking small sips.

"It's fucking Lily, Rubes."

Ruby's eyes widened in a similar way to when Emma first found out who it was. Her jaw dropped and she had to tighten her grip on the mug she was holding to prevent it from slipping from her hands. "Lily your-ex-girlfriend Lily?"

"That'd be the one." Emma puffed her cheeks full of air and let it out slowly.

"What? How? _What_?"

"Try saying that for the next thirty minutes in your head and you'll be somewhere near the same wavelength that I am." Emma shook her head, sighing loudly. "What am I supposed to do, Rubes? I fucking know where she is. I know who she is, I know where she's "hiding". And let me tell you, she isn't being subtle – that whole hiding in plain sight thing must really work." She shook her head.

"If I don't report on her… If I don't catch her because of personal reasons, I could lose my job. Again."

Ruby nodded, trying to understand how Emma must be feeling. Out of all the things that could possibly go wrong on a first day of work, this definitely ranked number one.

"But if I turn her in… I mean, she'd never forgive me, Rubes. And after all the shit we've been through together…how am I supposed to just throw her under the bus? How am I supposed to track her down and turn on her like that? Put her behind bars again?" She asked, truly putting her faith in Ruby, hoping she could get even the tiniest bit of help.

"Ultimately, it needs to be your decision, Ems… I know it's not what you want to hear, because it sounds like a truly fucked up situation, but… I can't tell you what to do. I have a feeling that both decisions sound like absolute shit to you right now." She sighed, reaching over and taking Emma's hand in hers. "But…can I be honest?" She mumbled quietly.

Emma nodded, already knowing she wouldn't like what she'd hear.

"If you don't turn her in, someone will find her eventually. You're not doing her any favours by protecting her for a short amount of time." Ruby shrugged softly, squeezing Emma's hand. "What did she do, anyway?"

"Drugs." Emma answered, deflated.

When she got busted those couple years ago, it was for the same thing as Lily. They weren't dating anymore at that point, but were closer than ever. They were both busted as accessories to a serious theft, but Emma was a little bit more involved, hence why Lily got out much earlier than her.

"I really hoped she'd turn over a new leaf, you know?" She sighed with a shrug, rubbing her thumb over Ruby's hand, trying to find comfort.

Ruby nodded sympathetically, giving her hand another squeeze. "Yeah, I know you did. I'm sorry it didn't turn out how you hoped."

Emma shrugged. "I know you're right – about someone else busting her over time. I just wish she wasn't in this mess to begin with."

Emma and Lily had been through an awful lot. They met at a very young age and clicked straight away. They became best friends, then girlfriends. After a few years of dating, both girls decided they were better off as friends though they didn't have too long to test that theory.

Despite everything, Emma still cared about her.

"Oh, and guess what else?" She asked, laughing softly, because at this point she knew that if she didn't laugh and get herself together, she might possibly lose it.

Raising a cautious eyebrow, Ruby leaned back in her seat again, motioning for Emma to go on.

"Regina's taken. She's with some man called Robin." Emma shrugged, finishing her coffee. As much as the man inconvenienced her by getting in the way of her getting Regina, there was something she really didn't like about him as a person – it was a vibe she had gotten from him from the first moment they met.

"Ew, she's straight?" Ruby scrunched her nose in disgust. "Poor girl."

"Woman." Emma corrected, surprising herself a little. She didn't know why it bothered her so much when people called Regina a girl. In her mind, she was so much more than a girl – the sophistication and class she brought to the table cleared that right up. "And I'll make sure she's not straight by the end of this adventure, don't you worry."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. So what are you going to do about this Robin guy? I assume you have a plan for getting him out of the picture?"

Emma shrugged, shifting in her seat. "I don't know yet. I'm just gonna let it play out for now and see what happens, I guess, you know?" She mumbled, playing with her fingers.

Squinting, Ruby just watched her for a moment. Something was different. Debating for a few seconds on what it was, Ruby suddenly gasped. "You _like_ her, don't you?" She exclaimed.

"What? No, of course not!" Emma almost jumped out of her seat at the accusation. Instant panic painted her face and her cheeks burned a bright red, no matter how hard she willed them not to. "Come on Rubes, I don't even know her."

"But you want to." Ruby smirked. "You want to know all about her. Her past and her goals and dreams and you want to raise her adorable kid with her too, don't you?" The shit eating grin on Ruby's face made Emma want to sink into the ground and never emerge again.

"Piss off, Ruby." Emma rolled her eyes. "I don't like her. You know why I'm doing this; we've talked about it. It's a bet. It's a…" She flapped her hand around, looking for a better word. "It's a challenge. Gotta make sure I've still got it after the past two years."

Quickly checking her watch to avoid more questions and comments, Emma sighed, standing up. "I should get going." She mumbled, hoping to anything she could believe in that Ruby wouldn't ask why.

Nodding, Ruby stood up too, grabbing the jacket from the back of her chair. "Where are you off to?"

Emma's face contorted with uneasiness. "It's movie night."

Ruby once again raised an eyebrow while shrugging on her jacket. "Movie night?" She repeated in clarification.

"Yes. It's movie night at the Mills' apartment. Henry invited me." Her voice got quieter by the end of it and she had half the mind to choke herself with the scarf she just threw around her neck.

"Aw, you're officially invited to family movie night. How cute." Ruby mocked, smirking. Emma once again rolled her eyes, but just as she was about to storm off like a little kid, Ruby pulled her in for a tight hug.

"Go get 'em tiger." She grinned, practically pushing Emma out of the café.

* * *

Emma knocked on the door to the Mills apartment half an hour later. The door was opened almost immediately, a pissed off looking Regina greeting from the other side.

"Shit, you okay?" Emma mumbled, raising her eyebrows.

"Language, Miss Swan." She gestured with her head towards Henry and Emma understood the meaning immediately: no swearing in front of her son - got it. "Also, you're late and Henry refused to start the movie without you."

"Oh, sorry." Emma scrunched her face in awkwardness, peeking inside and seeing Henry talking to Robin about something. "Oh, Robin is here?" She asked without much thought.

Regina's right eyebrow shot right up. "Will that be a problem for you, Miss Swan?" Her tone challenged and for a moment Emma wondered what happened to the slightly vulnerable and warm woman who opened up to her at the park just a few days ago.

Emma shook her head. "Nope, not a problem." She mumbled, gently pushing her way past Regina and into their living room, where a grinning Henry and a quick 'hello' from Robin greeted her.

"I'll go make some popcorn. Mom, why don't you load the movie?" Henry asked excitedly, abandoning Robin in his quest to make some buttery goodness. Regina couldn't understand his obsession with Emma, but did as she was asked non-the less.

Robin sat at the very end of the sofa and Henry's butt print was right next to him, in the middle. Once Regina took seat on the other end of the sofa, Emma understood her place in this was on the detached armchair, closest to Regina. She couldn't argue with that.

"What are we watching, anyway?" Emma asked, her attention directed towards Regina who started fumbling with the remote control to start the movie.

She shrugged softly, completely zoned out with trying to get the DVD player to work. Regina frowned at the remote and her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth.

 _So cute_ , Emma thought, though as soon as she did, she mentally kicked herself. _No, not cute._

"It's Henry's choice tonight. Something about the galaxy."

"Guardians of the Galaxy?" Emma raised an eyebrow, only to be met with a very excited "yes" being yelled from the kitchen.

"Have you seen it?" Henry questioned, his grin widening and the smell of melted butter filled the living room upon his return.

Emma nodded enthusiastically. "Only about twenty times, kid."

Setting the two popcorn bowls on the table, Henry walked up to Emma and held up his palm. Chuckling softly, she high fived him.

"Since you have to sit by yourself on the chair, I made you a bowl of popcorn that you can have all for yourself." Henry mumbled with a sheepish grin, handing her one of the bowls.

Emma smiled, genuinely touched. "Thanks kid, you didn't have to."

Regina watched in amazement as her son continued to worship the ground that Emma walked on. She decided she would need to have a serious chat with him about it at some point, sooner rather than later.

"Is everyone ready?" Regina asked, and three mumbled confirmations followed. Emma's mouth was already full of popcorn as she tried to answer and Regina couldn't help the slight distaste pulling at the corners of her lips.

The movie started and the room fell into a comfortable silence. Emma happily munched on her popcorn, smirking as she watched the three people on the couch struggling to fight over their bowl as silently as they could manage.

Emma was kind of glad they had picked a movie that she had already seen numerous times, because it gave her time to gather her thoughts on everything that had happened today.

She still had no idea how she would handle the whole Lily thing and she couldn't get Ruby's words out of her head – both about what would happen to Lily, and what she had said about her and Regina.

It wasn't possible. You can't like someone you don't know – especially someone as annoying ad stuck up as Regina. Robin was an idiot.

Robin was an idiot whose arm was outstretched on the back of the sofa, his hand playing softly with Regina's hair as they watched the movie. Emma's stomach twisted in a sudden knot and she gritted her teeth.

Forcing her attention back to the movie, she pushed the thoughts away, deciding that concentrating on the movie for the nth time couldn't hurt.

She tried, she really did. But how was she supposed to focus again on a movie she'd seen so any times, when right next to her on the couch sat a wonderful creature that she'd only just started to discover?

Regina was completely captivating. The intensity with which she tried watching the movie for Henry's sake was incredible, because you could tell that she wasn't interested in this kind of plot in the slightest. There was no doubt in Emma's mind, that Regina wouldn't do everything and more in order to keep her son happy.

Emma smiled faintly as Regina's eyebrows drew close in confusion at what was happening on the screen. Her nose twitched and she was about to ask Henry a question, but decided against it.

Regina reached over to the popcorn bowl in Henry's lap and Emma almost burst out laughing at the disappointed pout that pulled at her lips when she discovered the bowl was empty. Without thinking much of it, Emma grabbed her own bowl and raised it in Regina's direction.

Slightly hesitant, Regina stared at her for a moment, before grabbing a handful of popcorn. She mouthed a thank you at her, before concentrating on the movie once again.

After that, the movie seemed to fly by. Emma's attention continued being torn between the screen and the woman who, after the first time, demanded her popcorn every five minutes. By the end of it, her bowl was empty and Regina seemed much more content about the whole thing.

"That was better than I expected." Regina confessed as the credits rolled, smiling at her son who seemed thrilled that he finally picked a movie that his mother didn't hate.

"See, I told you you're going to love it!" Henry exclaimed excitedly, though Regina's statement was nowhere near her saying she loved it. Emma appreciated the kid's enthusiasm; it was infectious.

Robin stood from the couch, stretching. "Well, as much as I loved that, buddy," He ruffled Henry's hair before continuing. "I'm afraid I've gotta get going. Early morning tomorrow." He sighed, walking over to Regina and giving her a kiss goodbye.

As he made his way over to the door, he looked at Emma for a little longer than necessary, as a form of goodbye. She couldn't exactly place what it was, but something was different in the way he looked at her tonight, compared to other times they've seen each other.

Emma simply nodded her goodbye to him, and within the next few seconds, the door shut behind him.

There wasn't much to do, considering they all just had popcorn and a few drinks, but Emma couldn't help asking: "Do you need my help cleaning up?"

Regina gazed at her, slight surprise in her eyes. It was almost as if she wasn't accustomed to hearing that question.

"Actually, if you wouldn't mind." She nodded faintly, gathering most of the glasses, leaving Emma with grabbing the two popcorn bowls and a few empty soda cans. Once they got to the kitchen, Emma set the bowls down and threw the cans away.

"I wash, you dry?" She asked and to her surprise, she was met with another nod and a small smile from Regina. Pulling her sleeves up, she started the water and bubbled up the sponge. "How was your day?" She asked casually, starting with the dishes.

Regina took the first mug from her, drying it. She shrugged faintly, looking at Emma. "It was a day like any other, Miss Swan."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Could you give a briefer answer?"

"Probably." Regina smirked, taking the next dish from Emma's soapy hands.

Actually chuckling at Regina's words, Emma paused for a moment, a dish in her hand and the water left running as she looked at her. "What do you do? I don't think you've actually told me. I mean I know I always see you in suits and stuff, but…" She shrugged, getting back to the dishes.

"I'm a college professor. I teach English. It's a flexible job, but it takes up a lot of my time nonetheless." She mumbled, putting some dishes away into their rightful place in the kitchen. "Planning lectures, grading essays, you know the drill."

"Wow." Emma smiled, watching her. "That sounds exciting. You've really got to have your head in the right place for that kind of thing, I could never do it." She chuckled. "I just got my old job back last week: I'm a bail bondsperson. I got my first case today, but I'm only going back on the field in a couple of weeks." She spoke, a shrug falling off her shoulders.

She glanced at Regina who was watching her with silent fascination.

"I'm impressed, Miss Swan. I had you pegged for someone who just lived off of someone else's money." Regina teased with a small smirk.

Emma actually chuckled at this. "If you only knew how my life has been until this point. But that's a story for another time."

Curious, Regina cocked her head to the side, watching Emma and taking the last dish from her hands. Emma turned off the water and dried off her hands on a paper towel, leaning her hip against the sink and crossing her arms.

"Perhaps another time." Regina mumbled, putting the now dry bowl away. "Would you care for a glass of wine, Miss Swan?" Regina asked suddenly, frowning slightly almost as if she herself was surprised the question left her lips.

"Uhm…" Emma paused for a moment, but nodded softly. "Yeah, that sounds great, actually."

Regina nodded faintly, getting out two glasses and a bottle of one of her better wines. Henry had gone up to his room right after Robin had left, so they had the living room to themselves.

Getting back to the sofa, the two women sat on opposite ends of it, putting a little distance between them. For a moment they sat in silence, both taking tiny sips of their wines, smiling faintly at each other.

"I feel like I owe it to you to tell you more about who I am – or rather, who I was – before I moved here." Emma mumbled suddenly, setting down her glass of wine and rubbing her hands together in a nervous manner.

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Okay, do go on."

"Okay, but you can't judge me or suddenly decide that I'm no longer fit for spending time with you or Henry, because I've changed, okay? I'm not the same person anymore." Emma started defending herself before anything was even said. Again, Regina raised a suspicious eyebrow, the slightest shade of panic in her eyes.

"Let me just say it before you get freaked out – it's not that bad, I swear." Emma raised her arms in slight mock defeat. Sighing loudly, she grabbed her glass of wine and took a larger gulp.

"I was behind bars for two years." She deadpanned. The look of sheer panic appeared on Regina's face and Emma could physically see the woman tense and her walls go up. "Don't worry, I'm not a murderer or anything." She sighed.

"I was charged with accessory to theft." She started, her hands gesturing as she spoke. "Years ago, I was with this girl, Lily. She'd been in my life for a really long time; I've known her ever since we both ended up in the foster system. She's been my rock nearly my entire life." Emma sighed in nostalgia, though her chest tightened a little at the fact that Regina seemed to have basically no reaction to the fact that Emma had been with a woman – always a good sign.

She continued talking, though Regina didn't ask her to. She realised at this point she was just rambling. "Anyway, after we broke up because we both decided it'd be better off that way, she strayed down a bit of a wrong path and I followed, somehow getting myself in even deeper – or so it seemed. Maybe she was just smarter at erasing her tracks than me. She got much less time and got out way before me." Emma shrugged, playing with the rim of her glass.

"My foster parents died in a car accident when I was behind bars." She chuckled sadly, her grip on the glass so tight that her knuckles turned white. "I didn't say goodbye to them because I was trying to keep my ex from smuggling a bunch of stolen shit across a border. I ended up volunteering to do it myself, and I got caught, and I didn't get to say goodbye to them."

"And you know what the worst part is?" Emma laughed humourlessly. "She fucking got herself into trouble again. Even more so now and she's hiding, trying to run away. Guess who's fucking job it is to get her back. It's my goddamn first case."

The words were flowing out of Emma's mouth like word vomit. She couldn't stop it at this point, even though talking about this was the last thing she wanted to do. Or so she thought. Apparently she really needed to get all this off her chest.

She looked at Regina, who was watching her with glistening eyes.

"Fuck." Emma shook her head as a tear spilled down her cheek. She wiped it quickly on her sleeve, setting the glass down once again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dump all this on you. I guess I needed to vent." She sniggered through her tears, standing up and shaking her head.

"I'll just… I'll see you tomorrow or something, okay?" She whispered, not waiting for a response before turning on the heels of her feet and starting to walk out of the apartment.

As she was nearing the door, Regina's hand wrapped around her arm, stopping her in step. "Miss Swan…" She started, her voice barely a whisper.

Regina wanted to comfort her – she wanted to make it better. She might not have been a huge fan of Emma up until this point, but knowing her past… she understood her and the person she was better. An unnerving feeling of needing to protect her took over Regina.

She didn't want to push, though. She could already tell that Emma was an extremely guarded person, much like herself. If she didn't plan on opening up like this to her tonight, then chances were she was panicking right now and just needed space.

At this point words weren't enough. Tightening her grip on Emma's arm, she tugged on her sleeve, pulling her in for a quick, haste hug.

"Come by tomorrow evening for dinner." She whispered. Pulling back, Emma looked at her with once again tear filled eyes and smiled faintly, nodding. She took Regina's hand in hers and gave it a squeeze as a way of saying thank you.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Regina."

"Have a good night… Emma."


End file.
